Day 127 - Walking tour of Sofia

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018.

Today we got up at 9:00am -- well us parents. I'm putting it down to the time difference. The kids have been really good with their school schedule and they start at 8:00. We walked downtown to do the Free Walking tour. Our guide's name was Nikola and he was funny and informative. I think Daniel and Sunshine may actually have learned something about the history of Bulgaria! We have found that these tours are great because if the guide is funny or interesting, it's easy to become engaged in the stories they tell about what you're seeing and that results in easy learning.

Palace of Justice -- this is where the tour began. So many people showed up for the tour they had to split the group into 2!

You may be able to see bullet holes in the columns, from WWII. Bulgaria made the poor decision of allying themselves with Germany during both world wars. The damage here was from the Soviet "liberation" of Sofia, which the Bulgarians initially welcomed (the Russians had liberated them from the Ottomans in 1878).

Sveti Petka church, a small 14th century church notable for the fact that it was built during Ottoman occupation, when few, if any, churches were built at all.

Time travel: from the 4th century Roman ruins discovered during the 21st century Metro construction with the 16th century Banya Bashi mosque in the background! Banya in the name refers to the natural springs right next door -- pictures below.

Here you can see the Roman ruins with the modern city in the background

OK, I won't ask them to smile again!

The former public bath building, now a museum. A lot of locals want the vacant part turned back into a bathhouse!

Bath house constructed in 1913. Bulgarian Revival/ Art Nouveau style.

Just because the baths are closed doesn't mean the water went away! There are several fountains here where you can fill your water bottles or jugs for free! The water is warm (37 degrees C) but drinkable. It's reported to heal stomachs and broken hearts.

The guide called this square "Soviet Paradise" -- the three buildings were built in the 1950s in Stalinist neoclassical style. They held the Communist party headquarters and Soviet premier offices. Today they are the parliament and the presidency, which also houses a casino -- no comment! 

They did finally remove the huge red star from the top and replaced it with the Bulgarian flag.

I would hate to own the company constructing the subways here. You can't spit without hitting some Roman or Greek ruin, or running into a natural spring!

The Presidency with a pair of fancy guards at the entrance

The oldest building in Sofia, St. George church from the 4th century. This is in a courtyard surrounded by the Stalinist buildings. Luckily, it survived Allied bombings during WWII (tip: don't declare war on the US and the UK).

National Theatre. Bummer the fountain was off for repair! This park becomes a hotspot during summer nights.

The Russian church of St Nicholas the Miracle Maker -- write a note and leave it in his crypt and he will bring it straight to God! Many people, including our guide, swear that their wishes came true.

The most important church in Sofia, the Hagia Sophia, built in the 6th century on a hill originally outside the city walls. Rumor has it the city got its name from the church since it was visible before the city was, people would say, "there's Sofia" and Serdika became known as Sofia. This would have been built a century or so after the Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul, which is just down the road.

Note: Hagia is actually pronounced EYE-ah. You know, with a silent H. And a silent G. Why do they spell it like that? 

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built to commemorate the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878. It was named after the Russian saint Alexander Nevsky because of the Russian role in the liberation (that same alliance didn't work out so well after the 1945 liberation, but we all have to live with our choices). The church was built by donations and employed the best artists and architects of the day. There is [standing] room for over 5000 attendees.  

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the side of the Hagia Sophia church

Booping the nose of yet another lion

We stopped for lunch at the Architect's Club, a fancy French restaurant. We wanted traditional food but we were so hungry that we stopped here.

Sofia University

Tomb of the first king of the Third (and last) Bulgarian Kingdom

That's the wheelchair ramp?? You're kidding, right? You're going to end up in a wheelchair if you try to get down that ramp!

We stopped at a bakery around the corner from our apartment. The elderly woman running it didn't speak a word of English, but we made ourselves understood. Apparently "chocolate" is a universal term. 

Sunshine wasn't as happy with her choice. Gregorio got the honey-covered churros.

And now, for something completely different -- an evening at the Philharmonic! One of our goals was to have the kids experience some opera or classical music in the countries where it originated. However, it's very hard to find classical music or opera in Italy, and we were in France in August, so everything was closed.

So here we are, in Bulgaria, listening to Vivaldi. Without the kids.

We were very happy to see that it was a full house on a Tuesday night in November!